From September 9 to 21, the NAC present SPHERE, a festival exploring rivers and waterways, engaging the senses with performances, talks and visual art installations, opening a reflection on our fragile relationship with Earth and on how the confluence of art, science and environment will inform the coming chapters in our shared history.
This page presents information on the 2022 edition.
The complete programming of the 2024 edition will be available on June 18.
Sphere brings the Earth and the climate crisis to centre stage. Co-curators Alexander Shelley and Angela Rawlings share their vision about this exploration of our extraordinary environment through science, music, and art.
In Sphere, the NAC Orchestra joins forces with Canadian, Indigenous, and Nordic composers, musicians, visual artists, writers, and scientists for a multidisciplinary conversation about the sphere we call home. Performances, talks, visual and audio arts, and sensory installations offer a response to the environmental crisis through the intersection of art, creativity, and science.
Sphere is co-curated by Music Director Alexander Shelley and Canadian-Icelandic interdisciplinary artist Dr. Angela Rawlings. Taking place throughout the NAC stages and public spaces, at the Canadian Museum of Nature, and at Club SAW.
An orchestra is a human ecosystem. We will explore Listening to the Earth through sound installations and meditative or explosive concerts. Discover Angela Rawlings’ and Alexander Shelley’s curatorial vision.
Co-hosted with the Royal Danish Library, Arctic Imagination will continue important and pressing discussions on the implications of climate change and a warming North.
SPHERE is seeking beekeepers and pollinator-loving friends to join an interactive performance procession from the Canadian Museum of Nature to the National Arts Centre.
SPHERE is presented as part of Nordic Bridges, a year-long cultural initiative led by Harbourfront Centre in Toronto and supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Visit NordicBridges.ca to learn more.